


His eyes were heavy

by Wayward_Unicorn



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-19
Updated: 2017-04-12
Packaged: 2018-09-18 13:53:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9388013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wayward_Unicorn/pseuds/Wayward_Unicorn
Summary: Merlin manages to resurrect the knights of the Round Table (alternate ending for season 5). Adventures and dangers await the group. This story will involve humor, loads of friendship, the bromance between Merlin and Arthur (only friendship), alternate magic reveal, both BAMF!Merlin and Merlin whump... I hope you enjoy it =)





	1. Prologue: Don't go where I can't follow

**Author's Note:**

> Here's the Prologue. I'd really appreciate some reviews since this is my first Merlin fic. I am also open to suggestions! =)

 

” _My favourite story was about a man who’d live forever –_

_but his eyes were heavy with the weight all he’d seen.”_

 

_\- Doctor Who_

 

 

Dead.

Arthur was dead, gone, away. So was Gwaine.

And Lancelot and Elyan.

Merlin sat on the ground, staring at his hands. His heart and head felt hollow, like all the blood was sucked out. There were no tears left anymore.

 

” _Young warlock”,_ Kilgharrah’s voice echoed inside his head. Merlin didn’t answer to the dragon. What would he say? That his whole world, his destiny, was all tumbling down? That he had failed to protect his king?

Merlin had already cried, shouted, destroyed trees and rocks with his magic. Now he was just hollow and sad.

He slowly lifted his hand,´and his eyes quickly flashed golden.

Tiny, golden sparks started lifting their heads from the ground, growing and blooming until they became flowers – flowers made from sparks, little golden speckles of fire. He let the flowers grow around him, creating a small meadow of fire flowers.

He sat there alone, watching the magic he had just made.

Merlin wished Arthur could have seen it. He never got to know about his servant’s magic. Mordred killed him instantly. No goodbyes, no nothing.

Merlin squeezed his eyes shut. _This can’t be happening. There has to be another way_ , he thought to himself. As the warlock stared at the flowers and as they died away slowly, he slowly had a small thought. Just a thought, not enough to call it an idea yet.

” _Kilgharrah. Come here._ ”

In a matter of minutes, he could hear the strong wings and the dragon’s voice inside his head.

” _I am sorry, young warlock. There is nothing you can do.”_

”Are you sure about that?” Merlin asked quietly. The dragon tilted his head and blinked his wise, amber eyes.

”Arthur Pendragon is dead.”

Merlin looked at his feet. ”Yes he is. But I want to ask you something.”

”What is it?”

The warlock took a moment before answering. ”I was once told that I was immortal. That I would live for centuries. Am I right?”

Kilgharrah hummed with his deep, old voice. ”Yes.”

”Couldn’t I… divide it?”

The dragon narrowed his eyes. ”And what do you mean by dividing?”

Merlin started walking a circle, very slowly. ”I want to know if there’s a way I can give up my overly long life, and give it up to someone else?”

”I’m afraid I cannot help you with that”, Kilgharrah answered after a small break. Merlin turned to face the huge beast.

”You can’t or you won’t?” Merlin challenged, staring the dragon in the eye.

”Your destiny is to wait. To live until the Knights of the Round Table are united once more. And you shall be the one to bring them together again”, Kilgharrah explained.

”That is exactly what I’m planning to do, now isn’t it?” Merlin stated as he stared at the ground.

”If we can somehow harness my immortality… would it bring Arthur back?”

The dragon took it’s time to answer. ”You must not do this, Merlin. It is not your destiny.”

Merlin lost his temper, filled with grief. ”Screw my destiny!” he yelled, eyes watering again. ”I cannot lose them! Not him.”

The dragon stared at the warlock with compassionate eyes. ”I understand, Merlin. But you are meant to live for much longer than one lifetime.”

”I don’t care”, Merlin answered. ”I make my own decisions. I want to bring my friends back.”

The dragon sighed deep. ”As you wish.”

Merlin turned around and frowned. ”You’ll help me bring them back, then?”

”You are a dragonlord. Just ask.”

The warlock stared at his hands for a moment. He was really going to do this. Bring people back from the dead.

”Come”, Kilgharrah said, and lowered his head on the ground so that Merlin could climb on his back.

”Where are you taking me?” he asked, unsurely.

”To the Round Table. Where it all began.”

 

 

”There is a trace of every knight that sat on by this table three years ago”, Kilgharrah said, his deep voice echoing in the ruins of the castle.

Merlin sat by the table, remembering the moment they had all been there – sitting at the table, vowing their loyalty to their prince.

The place where Gwaine, Lancelot, Percival and Elyan had all received their knighthoods.

Three out of four were now gone.

”This is the most powerful magic that has possibly ever been used on this world”, Kilgharrah said slowly. Merlin blinked rapidly.

”I am the most powerful warlock ever to walk the earth, am I not?” he answered. ”What do we have to do?”

Kilgharrah began:

”We’ll need my fire. Every single drop of energy I have in my body. And you – you must take it in.”

Merlin frowned. ”I won’t… die?”

Kilgharrah seemed to smile a little. ”Oh, you’ll die. You’ll die a few times.”

 

Merlin started enchanting the words Kilgharrah had just taught him. After a while the dragon joined him, their voices joining together like a choir. The ancient words echoed in that forsaken place.

He felt as his mind and soul finally connected with the invisible shadows that were sitting by the table. He didn’t stop enchanting, as he let his own spirit leave his body.

It was weird. Merlin felt cold, but he knew he could leave his flesh just by stepping away from it. It was another dimension – a place full of shadows and strange figures, never taking shape. He walked among them, the words burning his throat.

He saw his own body, lying on the table. Limp and dead.

Kilgharrah stopped enchanting, but Merlin didn’t. He watched from afar as the dragon had a deep breath – before growling deeply and breathing a cloud of white fire towards his body.

It didn’t burn, Merlin noticed. His body wasn’t burning. The warlock had expected pain, but didn’t feel anything inside his spirit.

That’s when it begun.

He felt his spirit and soul being ripped apart – it was like pure acid inside his veins, his blood was _boiling_ , and he couldn’t breathe – he couldn’t breathe, he didn’t even have to. He was in the other side of the veil, between the worlds of life and death. _How could there be so much pain at once? How can one man possibly be the source of so much pain?_

” _Stay strong, young warlock. The first of the four is returning.”_

A vision was then shown to Merlin. It was a beautiful, painfully familiar lake, surrounded by trees. The warlock's heart ached as he remembered setting Freya's body on fire, while her boat sailed to it's last journey.

And then he remembered Lancelot. Of course - that was also the place where he was laid to rest (after Morgana resurrected him as a shade, and then made him kill himself). Merlin remembered the horrible events like yesterday.

Merlin squinted as a bright light filled the scenery. The dragon’s fire! He saw as the lake's surface started bursting with a mighty burning blaze. When the fire died out, as fast as it had appeared, there was a splash of water as a man's head popped up from the depths.

Lancelot.

It was Lancelot.

Merlin saw the confused look on the knight’s face, but it was drowned by the _pure sting of joy_ inside him. Lancelot was back. He was alive again. A part of Merlin’s life span had been ripped out – and given to Lancelot.

The warlock didn’t have a chance to feel joyful for long – his spiritual body arched in pain as a new part of him was being ripped away.

Being stomped by horses, that what it felt like. Being thrown off a cliff and landing on a bed of rocks – the feeling of every sing bone of your body being snapped. It filled his head, his heart, his senses. Merlin didn’t hear anything but the slight humming in his ears.

Merlin drew in air with short, ragged breaths. A new vision.

He recognized the empty, grey hall. A chill ran through him. The place where sir Elyan lost his life. A white fire was lit in the middle of his view – it burned brightly, almost hurting Merlin’s eyes.

And just like the last time, a man stepped out of the flames. The warlock recognized Elyan’s confused look, as the man took a few steps forward.

Merlin smiled. It was working.

There was a strange feeling in his heart. He wasn’t sure if it was the joy and happiness of seeing his friends alive, or if it was the fact that his lifespan was being shred to pieces.

His soul and spirit felt thinner. As if he was being stretched to everywhere at once.

Merlin sank on the ground as a new wave of pain hit him. It made him shriek and whimper. His insides were being strangled like someone was trying to suffocate him very, very slowly. He could practically _feel_ the life force leaving him. It made his body twist and bend, until the point Merlin wasn’t even sure he was conscious.

And then it was over. A vision formed in front of his eyes, and he felt a quiet ringing voice inside his head.

It was a green forest – the place where Gwaine had died.

The dragonfire didn’t spread to the forest, it only burned between two trees – and when it died out, Gwaine stumbled forward and was left with a confused look. He looked around and grimaced. Merlin smiled to himself despite his weakening spirit and the horrible feeling inside his head.

And finally. It was Arthur’s turn now. Somehow Merlin new beforehand, that this would be the most painful one.

It was nothing like Merlin had ever felt before. It was _unimaginable_. No torture would ever compare to this. He felt his body being _ripped apart_ , bit by bit. It was like everything in his body was being dislocated or broken at the same time. _Was it possible to die from pain?_

His thoughts were cloudy, there was nothing else he could think about but the agony that was ripping his body. Merlin wasn’t sure if he was screaming or not. He didn’t hear anything. He didn’t see anything. There was nothing else in this world now, but him and the force that was tormenting his body.

And then it stopped. It was like hitting a brick wall. Merlin had already lost the idea of time, he had no idea how long it had been. But it was over now. He couldn’t feel his body anymore, he had trouble recognizing his surroundings. What were all those shadows? He was pretty sure he was having a vision, but couldn’t be quite sure, because black and red spots were dancing on the edges of his vision.

” _Young warlock. You must return to your flesh”_ , he heard a voice inside his head. Whatever that meant.

A sharp pain shot through his head and Merlin grabbed his hair.

He should go back, now. Or he might be lost here forever.

Slowly Merlin crawled towards the body lying on the middle of the table. It was like a breeze was blowing in that shadowy world, where everything looked fuzzy and clouded but also sharp and cold at the same time.

Merlin heard Kilgharrah’s voice guiding him as he slowly crawled on the table. He sighed deeply before laying his head to rest.

 _I did it_ , was his last thought before slipping back to the world of the living.

 

” _One part of your destiny is crumbling, young warlock,_ _and future is veiled_ _. You have broken the prophec_ _y. Emrys is no longer immortal, but your powers remain. The greatest sorcerer ever to walk the earth. And now, young warlock, you must rest.”_


	2. O' Death

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The second update, enjoy =)

” _Lancelot?”_ a voice asked behind him. He slowly turned around and faced Gwen’s huge, brown eyes. They were full of confusion, fear and sadness.

”But… how? You’re...” Gwen snapped her mouth shut. Lancelot paid attention to how beautiful she looked – her dress was made of beautiful, rose-red silk and her hair was clean and brushed, free curls falling to her back.

”I-”, Lancelot started. ”I don’t know. Gwen I’m so sorry, I wasn’t myself the last time we met – I was under Morgana’s influence”, he tried to explain. ”I don’t know what happened this time, I just felt woke up from a lake.”

Gwen frowned and kept staring. ”But…”

”I don’t know, Gwen, alright? I’m just as confused as you are”, the knight explained.

”Alright. We’re going to Gaius’.”

 

Elyan walked slowly towards the gates of the city. He could see the confused looks on the guards’ faces. He nodded to them slightly.

”Sir Elyan, you’re alive!” one of the exclaimed.

”So it seems”, he answered, slightly confused himself. He had died. In his sister’s arms. But then he had woken up.

Elyan walked forwards and entered the city. It was time to get some answers.

 

”Arthur?”

”Gwaine!”

”What the hell happened?” the king exclaimed as the two greeted each other fondly.

The other knight rubbed his head. ”No idea mate. I mean… I was _dead_. I died, I’m sure of it.”

Arthur frowned. ”Guess what? So did I.”

The two looked at each other. ”Alright, what do we do?” Gwaine asked.

The king merely shrugged. ”I don’t know. I was with Merlin before...”

Gwaine nodded. ”Should we go find him?”

Arthur frowned. ”Probably. I’d think he’s already returned to Camelot. That’s where I would go.”

”Camelot it is, then”, Gwaine stated.

 

 

Merlin woke up. He could hear Kilgharrah’s heavy breathing next to him.

The warlock didn’t want to open his eyes. They felt too heavy.

” _Kilgharrah_?” Merlin thought, talking to the dragon through his mind. He didn’t get a response.

”Kilgharrah!” he exclaimed and stumbled on his feet. The warlock ignored his pounding head and shaking hands, and approached the beast that was lying next to him. He could feel how his eyes were flashing form blue to amber – as if his magic was confused and trying to decide wether he was enchanting something or not.

The dragon was breathing, but was not awake. Merlin put his hand on the beast’s armour-hard skin. Kilgharrah was obviously exhausted – breathing out so much healing fire had taken all his energy.

Merlin examined himself. He was ravenous and really thirsty, so he assumed that they had been there for at least two days.

” _Young warlock”_ , a tired and rough voice greeted him inside Merlin’s head. The young man turned around to see Kilgharrah’s eyes twitching, struggling to open.

” _You must give me one more hour, and I shall take you back to your home. Your friends have already returned.”_

Merlin took a deep breath. His friends – they were, indeed, alive.

” _That’s fine. Take all the rest you need.”_

Not really, of course. Dragons could sleep for years, and Merlin was eager to see his friends again.

Lancelot, Elyan, Gwaine, Arthur. They were all alive now.

The warlock couldn’t stop the smile that climbed on his face. He felt just so _good._

Two hours passed, and Merlin was home. Kilgharrah lowered his head so that the man could climb down.The dragon was extremily tired and the dragonlord had been worried.

”It’s alright, young warlock”, he had assured him.” In a few months I will have restored full strength.”  
”Thank you, Kilgharrah”, Merlin said as he turned around to say goodbyes. The dragon blinked his big, amber eyes.

”You are most welcome. Perhaps I shall try to find Aithusa – she has strayed far from her path.”

Merlin nodded. The white dragon had, indeed, been a danger to them all under Morgana’s command. Without further a due, the dragon leaped back into the air, leaving the warlock behind.

For a moment Merlin just stood there, on the calm meadow swimming in moonlight. He then sighed, smiled a little, and started making his way to the castle.

 

 

”Well I’ll be damned”, Gwaine’s voice said. Arthur raised his head and glanced at the way where the knight’s finger pointed. It had been a fond reunion with the other knights – Lancelot, Elyan and Gwaine were all alive and well, remembering nothing between their deaths and their resurrection.

Arthur had talked specifically with Lancelot, asked about the last time the king had seen him – but the knight had explained carefully what had happened. Morgana, he had said.

”Merlin”, the king breathed. The servant was merrily walking down the street, heading towards the castle. The knights were sitting on the stairs, talking in the light of a fire.

”Hello”, he grinned. ”Glad to see you all alive and well.”

Arthur raised his brows and let out a small chuckle. ”You don’t seem surprised.”

Merlin shook his head. ”I believe I can give you some answers.”

”It’s about time”, Elyan stated. The other knights all nodded in unison.

Merlin sat down and sighed. ”So”, he started, everyone’s eyes fixed on him, ”After Arthur died… there was a man. Emrys.”

Arthur frowned. ”The white-bearded fellow. The one who tried to kill my father.”

Merlin glanced at him with a dark expression. ”He did not. He was trying to heal him.”

”Just carry on”, Leon told him and the servant returned to his story.

”Emrys was very keen on bringing Arthur back. I was too, of course. So he ended up making a plan”, Merlin explained. ”I think he said something about him giving out his own life force.”

”His own life force?” Percival repeated and Merlin nodded.

”Indeed. We went to the Round Table, if you still remember the place, and he...” his voice died out for a moment. ”He said it that the Knights of the Round Table would be united once more.”

The knights all looked at each other. Arthur wasn’t sure what to make of it all –  how could one man manage to resurrect four people?

”What happened to Emrys?” Lancelot asked, staring Merlin straight in the eye. The younger man blinked a few times.

”He was weak, but said that he’d be fine.”

Arthur rubbed his head. He didn’t like the idea of that sorcerer, but he had, indeed, saved them from death.

”But I don’t understand… if you want to bring someone back you must give a life in return. Who did he give? There was four of us”, he thoguht out loud.

Merlin frowned. ”Yes… he said he’d expand his life force. That’s it.”

Gwaine shook his head, Leon and Elyan looked at each other. ”Emrys is a powerful sorcerer, I get it, but surely he has no power over life and death?” Gwaine grunted.

”Apparently he does”, Arthur mumbled. ”Do you know where he is now?”  
Merlin shook his head. ”I’m afraid I do not. He left very soon after you had been resurrected.”

Silence fell over the small group. Arthur didn’t know what to think. Magic, the thing he had learnt to hate and dispise, had suddenly saved him.

”We owe a thanks to Emrys”, Arthur said eventually. ”I think we should pay him a visit.”

Merlin frowned. ”You know what you should do if you wanted to thank him”, he said. Arthur looked at his feet. Yes, he knew.

”I can’t make magic legal. Not yet, at least.”

Merlin looked away.

”But I will pay him a visit and show him my gratitude.”

 

 

Apparently there was no one at the old man’s hut. Merlin had listened as Arthur ranted about how messy, dusty and untouched the place was. It had been unused for ages.

”You won’t find him, Arthur. If there’s something that needs to be discussed, he will find you”, Merlin told him as he polished the king’s armour.

”I guess so”, the blond man murmured back as he stared out of the window.

Suddenly the king frowned and narrowed his eyes. ”Well that can’t be good”, he stated.

”What is it?” his servant asked, raising his gaze.

”It seems that there’s a storm coming. A bad one, it seems – haven’t seen clouds that dark before.”

Merlin frowned. Could it be magical? Probably not – it was hard enough to harness lightnings, that only could be managed by the most powerful sorcerers. Maintaining an entire storm was hardly possible.

He finished up his work and stood up. ”I’ve done my chores now, anything else you’d require, my Lord?” the servant asked with a glimmer in the corner of his eye.

”Don’t you ’my Lord’ me, and go muck out the stables.”

”Yes, sire.”

”Shut up, Merlin.”

 

 

_~ Seven days later ~_

 

It had been raining for a week, but Merlin had never been happier. His friends were alive, for gods’ sakes! Lancelot had cleared the grudges between Arthur and Gwen, and the three had a perfectly normal friendship again. Gwaine was spending most of his time in the tavern, drinking with his pals and telling stories about his adventures. Merlin had joined him once (it was only a few mugs of cider, nothing harsh). Leon, Elyan and Percival were laughing and playing with dices as they stayed inside, safe from the rain.

And Arthur – he was the usual prat as he was. Throwing things at Merlin as he went inside to wake the king up, calling his manservant an idiot or a girl, and him calling the king a clotpole, a dollophead or a stewed prune or something. And, of course, Gaius decided it would be a good time to send Merlin to deliver a bottle of medicine to mister Peregrin, who suffered from liver problems.

 

It was pure hell outside the castle, and no one was very keen to go outside in the pouring rain. It hadn’t stopped at all since the storm had hit the city. In a matter of minutes, Merlin was soaking wet. The streets were practically swimming with water. _If the rain continues, there will be a flood_ , Merlin realized.

He shivered in the cold and wet and knocked on the door. He heard a clinging noise (bottles, perhaps?) and stumbling as the man inside opened the door.

”What do you want?” he grunted as soon as he saw Merlin.

”Gaius sent me to bring you this”, he said and showed the man a tiny bottle of something brown-ish. The man seemed to have trouble focusing his gaze. Merlin had to stop himself from stepping back a few steps when the man’s smelly breath hit his face.

”This is not what he usually gives me”, he complained as he grabbed the bottle Merlin was offering.

”Yes, Gaius said that you had been abusing your medicine and that he couldn’t give you any more of the old one”, he explained. Mister Peregrin kept staring at Merlin, who slowly turned around to leave.

”You’re not going anywhere, boy”, the man grunted and grabbed his shoulder. ”I want my old medicine, I need it, I need it now!”

”That is your new medication, mister Peregrin, and I suggest you take it”, Merlin answered and glared at the man. For a while the man seemed to fight an inner war of weather to leave it alone and accept the fate, or to demand more. Then his expression hardened.

” _I. Want. My. Old. Medicine”_ , the man hissed and suddenly Merlin felt something sharp against his back. His alarms immediately went off. ”Now. Or you’ll regret it.”

Merlin breathed deeply, water dripping from his hair as he slowly raised his arms higher. ”Calm down, mister Peregrin, don’t do anything you’ll regret later-”

” _Shut up!”_ he screamed, eyes so wide they looked like they could pop out at any minute.

”Well, I don’t have the medicine here, I’ll have to go back to Gaius and fetch it”, Merlin slowly said.

The man grunted. ”As if! We’ll go there together.” The big man then pushed Merlin forwards, raising the knife towards the servant’s throat. ”Move it.”

They slowly made their way through the town. Merlin was pretty sure that people noticed the two – some people from the tavern started slowly following them. He could hear their frantic gasps. _Bloody great_ , he thought to himself.

They slowly reached the castle.

”Someone get Gaius and tell him to bring mister Peregrin’s old medicine”, Merlin shouted at the people who had started to gather around. A few ladies separated from the crowd, running towards the doors.

” _Hey!”_ a familiar voice then yelled. Merlin saw as Gwaine approaching them. There were at least twenty people following the situation. ”There’s no need for anything rush. Just let the boy go.”

Mister Peregrin’s grip from Merlin’s neckerchief tightened and the warlock could feel the sharp sting on his back.  
”I want my medicine”, the man cried out, desperation and anger mixed in his voice. The rain was pouring even harder, making Merlin’s vision a little blurry. He blinked the water off of his lashes.

”It’s fine, Gwaine, let’s just wait for Gaius”, he answered slowly. Merlin could feel mister Peregrin’s heavy breaths against his neck. The man was getting truly anxious and desperate – which did not mean good for Merlin.

 

”Gaius!”

Arthur raised his head as he heard several footsteps closing. Gaius was walking with the king, and they were just having a conversation about the horrendous weather, as a few ladies and a maidservant turned up from the end of the corridor.

”Come quick, Gaius, it’s mister Peregrin”, the woman with a curly ginger hair begged with a thin voice.

”He’s threatening Merlin, and he wants his own medicine”, the other one added, out of her breath, ”and I think I saw a knife!”

Arthur felt his heart sink. Gaius didn’t waste time as he rushed towards his own chambers. The king followed the ladies outside, to the pouring rain. He could feel as the wet drops sucked into his clothes.

There was a fair amount of people standing in the rain, surrounding two men. The other one was a big, tall and fat man with shaking hands and wide eyes, glaring at the people around him. The other one was Merlin, who was being held still by his neckerchief and had a knife on his throat.

”Is Gaius coming?” the man screamed. ”I want my medicine!”

”Gaius is coming, calm down”, Arthur assured, noticing as also Gwaine and Lancelot were trying to make the man give up Merlin.

”There’s no need to threaten anyone’s life”, the king added.

That’s when Gaius hurried outside, carrying a small bottle with him.

”Here it is, Henrick, now let Merlin go”, the physician demanded.

Arthur noticed how the man’s eyes seemed to glimmer madly. He could smell the stench of alcohol, as the man stepped forward. Quickly he reached at the bottle, pushing Merlin away from him. He then proceeded to empty the whole bottle into his mouth with a single gulp. Gaius shook his head in frustration.

”Seize him”, Arthur said to the guards who had turned up from the castle. Immediately, the man was arrested and delivered to the dungeons.

The king sighed and grabbed Merlin’s shoulder. ”Are you alright?” he asked, as Gwaine and Lanclelot hurried towards them. Gaius looked worried as he glanced at Merlin.

”Fine, fine”, the servant sighed. ”I just feel sorry for the man. For having to threaten someone’s life for a bottle.”

Merlin rubbed his neck. There would be bruising, Arthur had seen how hard the man’s grip had been.

”He shall not get away with this”, Gwaine growled. ”Where’s my sword?”

”How about you and Lancelot go to sleep”, Merlin suggested, smiling a little. ”You two have probably had enough.”  
Lancelot glanced at his fellow knight. ”I think Merlin’s right. Come on, Gwaine.”

As the two knights disappeared into the night, Arthur and the others returned inside the castle. They were all soaking wet.

”I’m sorry, Merlin”, Gaius sighed, ”I should have known something like this might occur.”

”Don’t apologize, Gaius, it wasn’t you holding a knife to my throat”, Merlin stated and touched the old man’s shoulder.

”Let’s go find someplace warm”, Arthur muttered. ”Are you sure you’re alright?”

Merlin raised his eyebrows. ”Yes. It’s strange, sire – it’s almost like you care.”

”Shut up, Merlin.”


	3. The Flood

 

Merlin woke up to the sound of bells. The whole city was being woken up. He ran out of his room and glanced at Gaius, who was just as confused as he was.  
The warlock could hear screams from the hallways, and he quickly looked out of the door. People were streaming out of the castle, running around – everything was chaos.  
”The water is reaching us!” he heard someone yell. ”We must hurry.”  
”I think there’s a flood, Gaius”, Merlin said slowly, ”The dam had probably finally broken.”  
No wonder, to be honest. It had been raining for two weeks. The city of Camelot was flooding already, and now the dam seemed to be broken.  
”We need to get out of here, then”, Gaius stated and quickly threw a cloak on himself.  
”But this is a castle, Gaius”, Merlin protested. ”We’ll be safe here.”  
”No, no. We must get out before the water blocks the way and we get stuck here. Floods can last weeks.”  
”Right”, Merlin answered.  
The physician grabbed some bottles and herbs to his bag. Merlin dressed up and soon the two were ready.  
The corridors were full of people, and Merlin didn’t fail to notice Guinevere and Arthur, who were running down the stairs.  
”There you are”, the king exclaimed, worry shining from his eyes. Merlin nodded at them. The pair was surrounded by knights, who were escorting them through the castle.  
”We must leave when we still can”, Leon stated and glanced nervously outside.  
Merlin saw it too. A wave of brown water was roaring towards the citadel. It was dragging trash and wood with it. The warlock grew anxious as he saw how fast the water was rising.  
”Move it!” Arthur shouted. ”We need to go through the yard before the water rises too high.”  
The group swiftly proceeded. Merlin stayed by Gaius’ side, making sure he didn’t get left behind. He wouldn’t leave his mentor alone.  
”Hurry up!” he heard Elyan shout. Merlin had to support Gaius as he old man almost fell.  
They reached the gates and Merlin realized that the water reached their waists.  
”Let’s go!” he heard Arthur yell through the rain and the wind. Merlin shivered as the cold water hit his stomach. Gaius grimaced.  
The servant noticed how Arthur was supporting Gwen as they moved forwards as quick as they could. There was a huge amount of people on the streets, trying to keep their children dry and carrying them on their shoulders. People seemed keen to get out of the city.  
Chaos. Chaos everywhere. Screams and rain and water and children crying. Merlin kept his hold on Gaius’ arm, as he dragged the old man with him.  
If they could reach the forest they’d be safe. And as long as they all stayed together. Merlin didn’t let his eyes wander away from Arthur’s red cloak. He would lead them out of there.  
Suddenly the thunder ripped through the skies. Merlin heard a powerful, loud roaring of the sky – it was so loud he almost had to cover his ears.  
”The gods are angry at us!” a hysterical man was shouting, as he tried to struggle his way through the water. He ended up practically punching Merlin as he tried to make his way to safety.  
Then it happened. A long, white claw of lightning hit one of the watchtowers. Horror and panic were beginning to take hold of Merlin, as he saw the tower crumbling apart. The whole structure was breaking down. He heard Arthur yell something, but the king was at least fifty meters away from him.  
The tower was collapsing on them. People were screaming, and the water was rising. They had no chance of getting out fast enough.  
The tower was collapsing. Falling like a tree. Merlin noticed in horror that the tall, crumbling tower of rocks and grey bricks was about to fall on them.  
The warlock felt his magic boiling under his skin. Gaius looked his ward in the eye. The shadow of the tower didn’t reach Arthur, Merlin noticed. He was out of danger. But him and Gaius would be dead in a second if he didn’t do anything.  
”Merlin!” he heard someone yelling his name – probably Gwaine.  
And then the tower hit the ground.

 

Arthur felt his heart sink to his stomach as he watched the tower fall. He tried to yell people to get out of the way, but his voice barely reached anyone’s ears in the chaos and rain.  
Then his eyes reached the people who were about to get crushed under the tower. He recognized the familiar neckerchiefed servant and the court physician, trying to run away from the falling building.  
There was too much water. They would have never got out of the way in time.  
And the tower fell, crushing at least twenty people. A huge wave then swept over them. Arthur choked as the cold, brown water pushed him deeper, filling his lungs. His hand didn’t lose Gwen’s, and after struggling in the dark waters for a while, both of them reached the surface.  
Arthur stared at the pile of rocks that had crushed so many people. His eyes, however, kept looking for only on of them.  
Come on, Merlin, he thought to himself, silently praying. Come out of there and we can continue the escape. You’re slowing us down.  
But in his heart, a desperate feeling was beginning to grow. No one could have survived that.  
”We need to move, Arthur!” Gwen’s voice reached his ears. His queen tried to pull him away, to keep moving. Some of Arthur’s knights (probably Lancelot), grabbed the king’s arm and started pulling him away.  
But Arthur kept staring, still waiting for the servant’s skinny figure to turn up from the pile of rocks. Merlin, please, he begged silently in his mind, blinking rapidly.  
But there was no Merlin in sight.

 

The shield Merlin had made for himself and Gaius was strong. The rocks were burying the two, but he didn’t lower the bubble-like shield. Gaius shivered next to him, observing his surroundings.  
And then the rockfall seemed to be over. The water, though, it kept rising. It was now reaching their armpits.  
”We need to get out of here”, Merlin murmured. He couldn’t lower the shield – it would be the end of them.  
”Can you use your magic to wield the stones without letting go of the shield?” Gaius coughed.  
”I don’t know”, Merlin answered truthfully. He estimated their chances. ”Well what choice do we have but to try?” he grimaced.  
”Go for it”, Gaius challenged.  
Merlin closed his eyes. He needed to focus now. It was a difficult task indeed – but there was no other option. They would be dead in minutes if he didn’t act now.  
Merlin’s mouth spoke in the language of Old Religion, and his eyes glimmered gold. Energy struck through him like a lightning, as the rocks were lifted from them. Merlin grimaced with effort as he kept the shield on. His eyes then reached a glimpse of the grey sky above them.  
”Good job, Merlin, whatever you’re doing”, Gaius shouted through the noises of rain, wind and screams. ”Keep going!”  
And then the way was clear. The stones were no longer burying them. Merlin slowly let go of the shield of magic, and took a deep breath. He was exhausted.  
”We need to keep going, Merlin”, Gaius demanded. The warlock nodded. The two climbed out of the remains of the watchtower and started making their way out of the city.

There were a few times when the road was blocked, but Merlin was able to use his magic to defeat the hurdles. The panicked people around them didn’t seem to notice the few times when the servant’s eyes glew golden.  
”Mother!” a panicked cry of a little girl could be heard from his left. Merlin turned quickly around, and saw a child clinging onto a pillar of wood sticking out of the water. Her huge, green eyes looked desperately for someone, obviously her mother.  
I can’t just leave her, Merlin thought. He and Gaius exchanged looks. The warlock then let go of Gaius’ arm and quickly started making his way towards the little girl.  
Most of the people had already fled the city, but some were still inside. Merlin was not going to let this small girl get left behind.  
”Here, grab my hand!” he shouted to the little girl.  
”My brother’s inside!” she shouted back, pointing at the house behind her. ”He’s sick and can’t come out.”  
Merlin’s heart was filled with fear, but he didn’t let it show. The ice-cold water was making him exhausted and he was shivering, freezing to death.  
”Don’t worry, I’ll get you brother out”, Merlin tried to calm her down. ”Gaius! Take her!” he then shouted to the physician, who was slowly approaching.  
Merlin tried to stop his teeth clattering, as he made his way to the small hut. There he was, a little boy, maybe five years old. He was standing on his bed, clinging onto a blanket, big brown eyes staring at Merlin.  
”Hey, it’s okay”, the warlock said and smiled. ”We need to get out of here, alright? So I need you to trust me.”  
The boy nodded. Merlin reached towards him, and the boy grabbed his hand. The warlock could barely feel his own fingers anymore, but he lifted the boy on his shoulders (he was extremely light-weighted) and then, as quickly as he could, made his way out of the flooding house.

And so they made it out of the city. Merlin had no idea where the people were heading. There were many options – the neighbour kingdoms or the villages that weren’t affected by the flood.  
Was Ealdor safe? Merlin couldn’t help but to think.  
They were currently sitting on a big rock at the forest. Merlin looked at the people around him. There was Gaius, the eight-year-old girl Rhyanwen and her little brother Ruslan. Then there was a maid called Seren, the blacksmith’s apprentice called Alistair, and an old woman called Faylinn.  
”Merlin, do you have any idea where Arthur might be going?” Gaius asked. They were all wet, cold and tired and Merlin knew that especially Ruslan, who seemed to have a fever, would need someplace warm to rest.  
”Arthur will be going to a neighbour kingdom for help”, Merlin said. ”But we can’t follow him. We have a sick child with us, and we don’t even know where the king is.”  
Gaius nodded. ”You’re probably right.”  
”I want my mother”, Ruslan whimpered softly against his sister’s sleeve. Rhyanwen stroked the boy’s hair.  
”We should try and get to some village that’s far enough from here”, Faylinn murmured, glaring at Merlin and Gaius.  
Alistair nodded. ”Someplace like Ealdor or Ghelin.”  
”I think you’re right”, the physician stated.  
Merlin nodded. ”What do you think, Seren?” he asked.  
The maid lifted his head quickly. ”Oh, I don’t know… Ealdor sounds fine”, she answered.  
”Ealdor it is”, Gaius stated. ”But we will all die if we don’t get to cover. We have to find a dry place where we can put on a fire.”  
Merlin quickly glanced at Gaius. He could easily dry everyone’s clothes and make a fire by magic. But as always, that was out of question.  
”We need to move, then”, he said.

 

It had been six hours. The rain wasn’t pouring anymore and the flood wasn’t as bad as near the city. They were deep into the woods, and everyone was hungry and tired.  
Merlin tried to think of something. They all needed food and shelter, but there was no way he could use magic without someone noticing.  
”Hey! You there! Wait!” a man’s voice shouted from a distance. Merlin turned around to see a patrol – it wasn’t Camelot’s, but the colours of Cenred’s kingdom!  
But Cenred was dead, right? The new king was undoubtedly good and fair.  
Right?  
”We wish to help!” another voice said. Merlin noticed that there were nine men on horses – horses, with their stomachs almost touching the water. Their legs were almost completely under the water.  
”Really?” Alistair shouted back, a hand on his sword. ”How do we know you haven’t come to kill us!”  
”Calm down, Alistair”, Merlin warned. ”Why would they do that? Besides, we are in trouble.”  
Slowly the dark-haired man lowered his hand and glared at Merlin.  
”We’ll get you to safety!” one of their rescuers promised as they approached. Gaius and Merlin exchanged looks. Apparently the warlock wasn’t the only one who was worried.

 

Arthur hadn’t said a word after they had reached the forest and stopped for a break. There were at least a hundred people there, but Arthur didn’t care. He was lost in his thoughts, trying to make out a scenario where Merlin was unharmed and fine. There was a horrible, cold feeling in his chest, and a constant nagging voice inside his head.  
”Why didn’t you go back there and dig him up?” it mocked him. ”He would have gone back for you. Why did you flee?”  
Arthur closed his eyes for a while. Because he was a coward? Because the knights and Guinevere kept pulling him away? Because there was water everywhere and he was panicking? Because no one could have survived that? Arthur let his head sink onto his hands. He felt Gwen’s hand squeeze his shoulder.  
”It’ll be fine, Arthur. As soon as the flood is over, we’ll return”, she said. The king didn’t answer. He could feel Gwen’s brown gaze on his neck.  
”Have you seen Gaius? We need him”, the queen said changing the subject, looking around.  
”Gaius was with Merlin”, Arthur whispered.  
Gwen was quiet for a while. ”Where’s Merlin?”  
Arthur didn’t know how to answer. His best friend was dead. And his body was crashed under a pile of rocks.  
”Arthur, where is Merlin?”  
”He didn’t make it”, Arthur said finally, keeping his voice steady and cold, trying to keep the tears away. ”The watchtower collapsed on him.”  
He heard Gwen gasping a ”No”, before the tears fell on her cheeks. ”Merlin...”  
Arthur felt dead inside. So cold. He would never see his manservant’s stupid neckerchief or idiotic smile. Never would he wake up to the same ”rise and shine” and never would he be called a ”clotpole” again.  
Never again.  
And that was killing him.

 

It was a beautiful morning at the castle, where Merlin and his companions had been taken to. There was a king, a queen, servants and knights. All life seemed very similar to Camelot.  
Except that Camelot was more beautiful, more lively and more… home.  
King Helenius and his queen, the lady Caoimhe. They also had a baby daughter, called Maíri. The crown princess.  
Merlin smiled as the sun hit his face. It had been two days since their escape from Camelot. The patrols had brought at least fifty people from Camelot to stay in their castle.  
And Gaius had an old friend, Moira, in the royal household. Moira was Helenius’ kingdom’s court physician, and the two seemed to have a good time remembering the past.  
And Merlin had been helping out the knights with their practicing (even though the queen had objected: ”You mustn’t, you are our guest here!”) and also helped out in the stables. He didn’t like to sit around, he was too used to working.  
And Merlin also needed to keep his mind busy from thinking about Arthur and the other people of Camelot, who were undoubtedly somewhere as some other royal’s guests.  
”Beautiful, isn’t it?” a man’s voice said behind him. It was one of the knights, sir Ronan. The black-haired man pointed at the citadel, that was swimming in morning sunlight.  
”Very”, Merlin smiled back. ”I can’t thank you enough for your hospitality, sire.”  
”Oh, it’s the king and queen you should be thanking”, the knight answered with a smirk.  
Merlin blinked a few times. ”Well, them too, but the thanks belong to you and other knights as well. You are the ones who found us.”  
Ronan smiled. ”I guess you were just lucky.”  
”Guess so.”

 

Five days. Five days since the flood. The ground was still wet in Camelot’s lands, but the flood was down now. Merlin looked as Ruslan played with his sister. They were trying to throw tiny stones to a circle, that was drawn on the ground.  
Ruslan’s throw was way too short – but when Merlin was sure no one was watching, he might have helped the stone to fly a little bit further than the boy had thrown it.  
”Well done, Ruslan!” Rhyanwen exclaimed and her brother laughed. Merlin smiled to himself. How could he be worried now? He was fine, and all the people there were fine.  
He just really hoped that Arthur and Gwen and the knights were fine.  
Merlin couldn’t bare to think what he’d do if one of them was lost.

It was the afternoon of that very same day. Merlin was helping out Gaius and Moira – one of Camelot’s men had a nasty fever.  
It was then, when a yell was heard from outside the citadel.  
”It’s the king Arthur!”  
Merlin’s head popped up and he noticed, that Gaius had heard it too. They quickly glanced at each other and got up fast.  
The two rushed outside, and immediately Merlin noticed that all the people of Camelot seemed to be in good health. Arthur was riding in the lead, along with Gwen and Camelot’s knights. King Helenius and Queen Caoimhe were approaching the royals of Camelot.  
Merlin noticed how Arthur, usually very noble and proud, had an exhausted and cold expression on his face. It was like he wasn’t physically even able to smile.  
He greeted the other royals with respect, implying how grateful he was and so on. Merlin smiled and looked at Gaius. The old man was smiling too. The people of Camelot seemed to have survived just fine. They had obviously had hospitality from somewhere else, and heard a rumour about some citizens feeling here.  
Merlin sighed. He was happy that the others were fine. Camelot’s people had started to spread out – people looking for their loved ones, friends and family.  
The servant started making his way towards Arthur and Gwen, who were still standing with the other royals.  
The king Helenius was ranting about something to Arthur, who didn’t seem to listen. His gaze was wandering on the people around him, aimlessly, until-  
His eyes reached Merlin. The servant smiled at the king, happy to see his friend again. But he hadn’t expected the reaction the king was then giving.  
Helenius had stopped talking as he noticed Arthur’s expression – full of confusion, joy, disbelief – and then the king of Camelot approached his servant with long, rushed steps.  
And he pulled Merlin into a tight hug – in fact, so tight, that the air left his lungs. Something like an ’uuf’ left his mouth. ”Nice to see you too”, he choked.  
Arthur then took a step back and stared at his servant. Merlin wasn’t quite sure what was going on, so he raised his eyebrows.  
”I saw when the tower crashed on you and Gaius”, he finally said.  
Oh, Merlin thought. So, Arthur had thought all this time that he was dead. Probably made sense.  
”No, no, we made it out of the way”, Merlin quickly explained. ”We got stuck behind the rocks for a while, but made it out just fine.”  
Arthur sighed and blinked a few times. He then glared at Merlin with a familiar glimmer in the corner of his eye, and gave Merlin a slap on the back of his head.  
”Ow”, the manservant said.  
”Shut up, I’m just glad to see you alive.”  
Sure you are, the warlock thought and smiled to himself. After that it was one, big circle of hugs with Gwen, Lancelot, Gwaine and his other friends.

A few moments later Merlin was chatting with Arthur, when the servant felt something pulling his sleeve. It was Rhyanwen, staring at him with her big green eyes.  
Ruslan gabbed his hand.  
”Can you see our mother?” the little boy tried to speak up.  
”How about I lift you up, and you can see for yourself?” Merlin asked. The little boy nodded with enthusiasm.  
Merlin crouched and lifted the boy on his shoulders. The warlock wasn’t physically strong, but the boy was very skinny and small so he was absolutely fine.  
A few moments passed, when Ruslan scanned the sea of people with his little eyes.  
”There! I can see her!” the boy suddenly yelled. Merlin’s heart was filled with warmth when he heard the joy in the boy’s voice. Arthur smiled too.  
”Mother! I’m over here!” he yelled and waved his arms, trying to get his mother’s attention.  
And soon there was a brown-haired woman hugging her two children, crying and laughing at the same time. Merlin and Arthur glanced at each other, smiling.  
”You”, the mother suddenly said, staring at Merlin. ”You saved my children, didn’t you!”  
”I helped them yes, they were both very brave”, he answered sheepishly. The woman the stepped forawrds and pressed a kiss on both of his cheeks.  
”Thank you from all my heart and by all the gods”, she smiled, cheeks red and shiny with tears. Rhyanwen and Rusland rushed forwards too and wrapped their arms around his waist. Merlin crouched with a smile and hugged them back.  
”Take care of yourselves”, he said. The two were grinning from ear to ear.  
”We will, thank you Merlin!”  
As the family then disappeared from sight, the servant noticed that Arthur had been watching him all the time.  
”Good job, apparently”, the king said quietly and squeezed his shoulder.  
”Apparently”, he smirked.


	4. Six feet under

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bloody hell. This chapter took forever to write, but the reason behind it is that it's a quite long one and I had to watch the whole of season five between this and the previous chapter. It had to be done – I needed to rewrite the first chapter. Anyway, this is probably kind of rubbish with tons of mistakes, but I'm writing in a hurry and I just really want to get this out there. I'm going to make the necessary editing later. Enjoy reading! :^)

It had been a month since the flood, and Camelot had returned to it's old routine. Th streets had been cleaned out, and though the kingdom had suffered great damage, it wasn't beyond repair. Even the fallen watchtower was half way rebuilt.

And that day, The Rising Sun was very full. Even Merlin had been dragged along by Gwaine. Lancelot was there too, though he had decided to hold on to his dignity and refused to drink anything.

Gwaine, instead… well, was being himself. Merlin sighed as him and Elyan were singing a duetto. To be honest, they weren't even that bad.

"Cheers!" the people shouted after the two were finished. Leon and Percival were giggling in the corner, and Arthur was sitting with Merlin pretty much in the middle of everything. The king looked pretty fed up with everything.

"Come on now, I want to gamble", he murmured. Merlin shook his head. "That's going to happen only after midnight", he warned. "People aren't drunk enough yet."

"I want to do something", he complained. "Some kind of competition."

"Hey, princess, you want to compete?" Gwaine sang suddenly. "Let's have a staring contest!"

Merlin slowly covered his face with his hands. _Oh gods._

"The one who blinks first is the loser", Merlin explained the rules as all the people in the tavern gathered around the table where Arthur and Gwaine were sitting, on the chairs opposite each other.

"This is unfair becuause Gwaine is Gwaine and Arthur is sober", Leon stated.

"I'm sure Gwaine will manage", Lancelot answered with a smirk.

"If you laugh, you lose", Merlin said. "Are we clear?"

"I'm way too drunk for this", Gwaine mumbled and hiccuped.

"Before we start, let's have some bets", Elyan exclaimed. People immediately started putting their money in. Merlin was pretty sure Arthur would win, but mainly because Gwaine was so drunk he'd probably start laughing.

"All set?" he asked and glanced at both of them. Gwaine rubbed his eyes and nodded.

"Ready", Arthur said with a slight smirk.

"Ready", Merlin then said, keeping a dramatic pause in between, "set..." he smiled. "Go!"

In the end, it was Arthur who won. Gwaine had a really hard time not to laugh at "the princess' celestial features".

Arthur was very satisfied with his win. "Anyone else want to try?" he shouted, pouring a mug of cider down his throat. _Here we go_ , Merlin thought.

"Nobody?" he tried. Eventually Elyan, Percival and Leon all tried – and lost.

Arthur was undoubtadly the best starer, and he wasn't even that drunk.

"Nobody will beat me", he smirked. Merlin had a small, evil thought just then. He should maybe give Arthur a little lesson.

"Somebody still want to try?" he asked. That was when Merlin answered:

"I'll try."

The king turned around with a grin on his face. "You?" he giggled. "Okay, okay, come here, you."

Merlin a little as he sat on the table. People were loving the new game. Arthur was already getting all the bets.

"'m gonna bet on Merls", Gwaine slurred.

Merlin closed his eyes for a moment – very tactical, since they flashed gold – and then turned to face his opponent. Arthur had a proud smirk on his face, but Merlin was about to show that prat his place.

"Ready", Lancelot started, "set… go!"

The game begun. It was very relaxed at first – they exchanged a few words, mainly calling each other names.

Arthur's eyes begun to water, but Merlin's didn't even flicker. He enjoyed as the king struggled to keep his big, blue eyes open. Merlin kept his little smirk.

"Something wrong, sire?" he asked innocently. "There seems to be something in your eye."

"Shut up", he growled.

"What is it? You seem a little bit grumpy, your highness."

And that's when Arthur broke down. The tavern practically blew up. Merlin laughed as people praised his accomplishment. Arthur was rubbing his eyes, but then raised his watery gaze.

"Nice", he breathed.

"Thank you", the servant answered sweetly.

 

* * *

 

The next morning wasn't too nice. Arthur was really grumpy about his defeat – and about his hungover, obviously. He didn't eat his food and told Merlin to sod off when he woke the king up.

Merlin smiled to himself, though – it would do good for the king to swallow some defeat.

"Merlin!" he heard his master shout. The raven-haired man turned around and saw the king walking swiftly towards him.

"Prepare the horses, we're going for a hunt", Arthur stated and stopped before him. Merlin raised his brows.

"You sure?"

"Of course I'm sure, I'm the king of Camelot."

Merlin tried to stay serious but couldn't stop the corners of his mouth twitching a little.

"Chip-chop", Arthur glared at him.

"Right away, sire", he answered.

He turned around, allowed himself to grin, and felt the king's annoyed glare on his back.

After an hour had passed, the king and his servant were ready. Merlin had packed along some food (just in case they didn't catch anything, and since Arthur was grumpy he would be hungry too).

And so they rode into the forest. It was a fairly pretty day, and Merlin was in a great mood.

Until Arthur noticed some deer tracks, and the warlock knew that an innocent animal was about to die. The tracks took them a few miles south and Arthur stayed focused and eager to get what he wanted. Merlin quietly admired the landscape.

Suddenly the king stopped. Merlin saw it too. And no, it wasn't a deer – it was a group of bandits! Or mercenaries, he couldn't be sure. The two quietly landed, leaving the horses to the cover of the bushes. They crept closer.

They were having a campfire, roasting a deer on the fire. The very same deer that they had been tracking, obviously.

Merlin quickly glanced at Arthur. There were eight bandits – too many for them. Even the king of Camelot knew that. He motioned the servant to back off.

They didn't get far though. Merlin and Arthur were quickly stopped by three bandits who had sneaked up on them from behind.

"Well what do we have here?" one of them chuckled with a growling voice. Merlin and Arthur glanced at each other.

"Run?" Merlin mouthed.

"Run", Arthur nodded, and so they did. The three bandits were stunned by their sudden movement and were not able to catch them in time. The two ran side by side, Merlin trying desperately to keep up with the faster man. His heart soon began pounding and his lungs started to ache, demanding more air.

"Oh God", Arthur breathed. "We walked straight into a passing bandit camp."

And he wasn't wrong. The eleven bandits behind them were just the beginning – in front of them there were at least twenty more, confused about the fuss – but they didn't take long to recover. Merlin glanced at his king.

They were trapped.

 

* * *

 

"The king of Camelot", the man grinned with his rotten teeth. "How convenient is that."

"I suggest you let us leave at once", Arthur said with a dangerously low tone. Him and Merlin had been taken to the bandit camps (although Arthur wasn't quite sure they were bandits, they never really made camps and move in big groups) and taken in separate tents. Apparently they were both being questioned.

The king couldn't do anyhting about the growing worry about his manservant. Merlin was a skinny and small, boyish and kind – which meant perfect prey for scum like this. Right now Arthur was powerless. He was expecting that these people wanted ransom. He just hoped they wouldn't kill Merlin off.

And as it turned out, Merlin was alive. He had a frightened look on his face, but physically seemd to be just fine. Arthur sighed in relief. More than anything he hated to see Merlin hurt – it was Arthur's duty to protect him. And that man couldn't hurt a fly – it was so unfair for him to be a target of violence.

"Hi", the servant said quietly as they were reunited – thrown into a carriage that was being pulled by a horse. Arthur was actually surprised that the bandit-mercenary-whatever-they-were treated them so well. Perhaps they would start chopping off their fingers if they didn't get their money.

"Are you alright?" the king asked. Merlin nodded.

"Yes, they weren't really interested about me. I'm not even sure why they bother keeping me around."  
Arhtur glanced at him sharply. Just the thought of this scum touching even a hair on his head made his blood boil.

Merlin and Arthur were indeed treated quite well. They were given food and water (even though they were still bound by the wrists), and they were given a ride on the carriage.

"Where do you think they're taking us?" the servant whispered. Arthur shrugged and glanced at his friend.

"Nowhere good, that's for sure", he murmured back. "How could these forests be this full of bandits? How could the patrols have missed them?"

Merlin didn't have an answer. Of course he didn't. Arthur already tried his best to get free, but unfortunately these bandits knew what they were doing.

"If we get any kind of a chance of escaping, we'll take it, you understand?" he said quietly.

"Of course", was the answer.

And indeed, that moment came. Just not in a way Arthur had suspected. Because suddenly the bandit group was invaded by at least five of horse-sized, black beasts – and to his horror, Arthur recognized them.

"Wyverns!" he hissed to Merlin, who stared at them with his big blue eyes wide open.

"Now is our chance!"

Everywhere was chaos. Bolts were shot from the crossbows and swords were drawn. And the black, shining beasts were flying near ground with their glowing red eyes, claws ready to torn everyone in their path to shreds.

Arthur spotted a sword on the ground. He quickly ran towards the blade, his bound hands reaching towards it. Merlin was out of sight, and it worried Arthur. He cut the restraints off easily, and started looking for Merlin. One of the wyverns fell to the ground, tens of bolts sticking out of it's thick, black skin.

"Merlin!" he yelled, eyes desperately searching, but… there!

The servant boy was stumbling towards him, hands grasping on a bag, that the bandits had taken from him.

"You idiot", Arthur growled as he sawed off the ropes binding his friend's hands.

"Sorry", he grimaced. The king then backing off from the bandits and the wyverns. The amount of the beasts was now lowered to two, and they seemed to be backing off.

"We need to move!" Arthur stated sharply and grabbed Merlin's arm. With that, the two started running away into the woods, to the forest that was crawling with bandits.

 

* * *

 

When everyone's attention had been away from him and Arthur had been eating, Merlin had been struck with a great idea. A suitable plan, really.

He knew they were pretty close to the place where wyverns were usually seen, and he had just had this brilliant thought. Why not summon the wyverns to attack the bandits?

So he did. He couldn't have risked Aithusa's life in a situation like that, but wyverns were excellent for the task. They came so soon, full of rage and thirst for blood. A perfect time to escape.

Merlin was actually quite satisfied with himself – for once, something had gone as he had planned.

That was until the bandits had gotten rid of the wyverns. And they seemed now to be chasing the two runaways. Merlin had never been really fast, and he certainly couldn't run for very long (he had very weak lungs), but this time he was running as fast as the king.

It didn't help much, though, since the bandits had horses.

"Over there!" Arthur gasped, pointing his finger towards a black mouth of a cave. The surroundings was rocky and wild. Merlin didn't argue, though, he decided to follow along.

And oh, how he later wished he didn't.

The two made it to the cave – it didn't look like it continued too long, and he was right. The cave ended soon. He pressed towards the wall made of stone and dirt, and waited. He could only hear Arthur's heavy breathing.

That's when he heard the footsteps. A pack of horses were racing right on top of them. Merlin felt his heart sink into his stomach as the rock ceiling above them started crumbling apart, little stones raining down on them.

"Out!" Arthur hissed, pulling the servant with him.

They had only managed to take a few steps, when the ceiling collapsed right in front of them.

Merlin covered his face with his fists, holding his breath as the dirt and the dust threatened to suffocate him. The rockfall took about fifteen seconds, but those were quite painful fifteen seconds. Merlin lay there, under the rocks and the dirt, in a bad position. He slowly tried to move, and he was happily surprised as he noticed that he was alright – dispite a few cuts and bruises.

"Arthur?" he coughed. There was absolute pitch black darkness in the cave now – it hadn't collapsed all the way, which was great. Only their way out was blocked.

"Arthur!"

As an answer, he received some grunting and moaning.

"Arthur, where are you?"

Merlin crawled out of the pile of stones and dust, and coughed some more. It was impossible to see anything in there. He could easily use magic to get them out of there, but it would be impossible since the king was watching – and, the forest was absolutely nested with bandits, so they wouldn't even make it far. Especially not, if Arthur was injured.

Merlin was so glad he had gone back to take his bag, because, including many other useful things, it had candles in them. He made fire without magic (although he might have guided the spark to hit the right spot) but soon he had a lighitng candle on his hand. His eyes hit the limp figure, that was buried under a pile of rocks from waist down.

"Arthur!" he panicked, approaching his king. The man's armor had probably saved him from any rib damage, but his legs had been completely vulnrable.

"Arthur, we have to get you out of there. Can you move?"

"Think so..." the king grunted after a pause. Merlin saw the pained expression on his face. The warlock frowned and moved closer to his legs.

"I'm going to have to pull you out."

"Do it", Arthur coughed. Merlin placed the candle away from them, so the flame would be safe. He then grabbed Arthur behind his back, tugging his hands under the king's armpits. The warlock took a deep breath.

"Ready?"

"Yeah."

And so Merlin pulled. He used a _little bit_ of wordless magic to make himself a bit stronger. Arthur cried out in pain, and numeorus different-sized rocks fell over, causing the pile of rocks crumble apart even more.

But Arthur was out, which was the main point. The king grunted in pain as he tried to sit up. Merlin lit up another candle, bringing the light closer.

As a physician's apprentice, Merlin was experienced enough to recognize different injuries. He saw how the king's knee was twisted in a wrong way.

"Well, your right leg is dislocated, but how about the left one?" he asked. Arthur winced as he tried to move the left one a bit, but relaxed soon after.

"I think it's just a bit bruised."

Merlin let out a satisfied breath.

"Great. Now we just need to put your right knee to it's position."

Arthur grimaced. "Do it quickly, then."

"Will do", Merlin answered, hovering over Arthur's leg. He had done this a couple of times before, and knew what he was doing. He narrowed his eyes in the dark as he set his hands around Arthur's leg.

"On three", he said. Arthur nodded, preparing for the pain ahead.

"One", Merlin said, and immediately after he pushed the knee back into it's place. He felt as the knee caps moved under his hands, and let go of the leg. Arthur cried out and started panting.

"You said on three!"

"I lied."

The king glared at his servant.

"Whatever, now we need to get out of here." He glanced at the pile of mud and rocks before them.

"I think we're stuck."

Merlin didn't disagree. The cave didn't continue to any direction, so the only way out was blocked by the rocks.

"I think we need to dig our way out, then", the warlock sighed. He was about get on with it, but suddenly a slight blow of air hit his face. It was barely noticable, but it made Merlin turn his head.

"Wait."

Arthur, supporting himself on his elbows, turned his head towards Merlin. "What?"

The warlock was first sure he was imagining things, but there it was. The wooden door had been so hidden in the shadows that neither of them had noticed it.

"It's a door", Merlin grinned. "There's a wooden door here."

Arthur let out a laugh, before trying to get closer. He then grimaced with pain as his injured leg hit the ground.

"I don't think you should move around too much", Merlin said with a worried tone. He didn't want Arthur to hurt himself any more.

"I'll be fine", he answered through gritted teeth. "Here, take the sword and see if you can get the door open."

Merlin nodded and grabbed the blade, turning his attention back to the door.

 

* * *

 

The door was a nightmare. It was thick, locked and it had almost become part of the wall. It had been at least an hour. Merlin grunted as he tried to make a whole to the door. He had long since stopped trying to force it open, so he had moved on to trying to make a whole.

"What if there's nothing behind the door?", he panted and glanced at the king, who was trying to stretch his leg, trying to make it more usable.

"Why would there be a door, if there was nothing behind it?" Arthur answered. "Besides, we don't really have much choice, do we?"

Merlin nodded, resting his hands a bit.

"Here, let me help."

Arthur had gotten up on his feet, swaying back and forth a bit, but stayed up. Merlin blinked a few times, as the king limped towards him. They looked each other in the eye in the dim candle light, before Artuhur grabbed the sword.

"The wood is a bit rotten, but it's very thick. You've done a great job", he stated as he carved out the soft wood.

Merlin found some bandages from his bag and wrapped them around his aching hands. The air was getting thinner in the cave, and Merlin had started to get slightly claustrophobic.

In ten minutes, however, Arthur exclaimed.

"Here, look!" he grinned. "The sword went through!"

Merlin smirked and moved closer. "Now the hole should be easier to make bigger."

"Yep", Arthur answered and bit his bottom lip, narrowing his eyes.

And together, they ripped the rotting wood apart, widening the whole in the door to make it big enough for a human.

"There", he stated. "Big enough now."

Merlin nodded and grabbed his bag, bringing it over his head. "I'm going first."

"Why?" Arthur frowned.

"Because you're hurt, and I need to make sure it's safe."

The king stared at Merlin for a while, but then nodded. "Let's get out of here."

Arthur looked as his servant tried to peek through their hole.

"I can't see anything", he stated. It looked like a pitch-black mouth, ready to swallow them both. Merlin quickly glanced at the king, before slowly starting to push himself through the door. His skinny body had no problem, but Arthur was quite sure that a king with armors and everything would have slight problems. He quickly decided to get rid of the armor.

Merlin's legs disappeared into the black pit. Arthur could hear his servant's panting echoing from the other side.

"Okay, give me a candle."

Arthur reached out to give him the other of the two candles.

"Well, it's a chamber. I had hoped for some stairs", he stated, disappointment in his voice. Arthur sighed and moved towards the whole.

"Is it big enough for you?" Merlin asked, turning his attention back to the king.

"Of course", the blond man grunted back, as he tried to pull his body to the other side. He was actually not stuck, he realized as his body slid through. Arthur stared at the door for a while, before slowly getting up.

"Now what?"

Merlin was looking at him with a serious expression, the candle light creating ghostly shadows on the servant's face.

"It's just… a big, muddy chamber", the king stated, looking around. The walls seemed to be made of clay or dirt, but he knew that there was probably stone behind it.

"Give me the sword, will you?" Merlin asked and reached out his hand. Arthur frowned and placed the blade on his hand. The sword was a little bit trite and full of scratched, but it was still a sword. Merlin grabbed it and pinned the tip to the wall, before starting to run the blade on the wall.  
It took some time until Arthur realized what the other man was doing. Suddenly the sword disappeared into the wall, and Merlin almost hit his face. He glanced over his shoulder at Arthur.

"I think I found the second door."

After they had peeled the clay and mud off of the door, they realized that this door was much more rotten and old. The wet and soft wood would be much easier to break than the first door.

And so they used the rocks, the sword and their own hands. And sooner than Arthur could have hoped, they had managed to make a man-sized hole. He glanced at Merlin, who was grinning back at him. It was that feeling – the feeling when you have worked hard over something, and you're finally done.

Arthur nodded at his servant, who turned his eyes back on the door. Again, there was nothing but blackness ahead. Merlin pushed through with a candle on his hands, stopping for a while to observe his surroundings.

"It's a tunnel", he stated. Arthur's heart bumped with hope, and the king pushed himself through. He ignored the burning pain on his knee and stood up, raising the candle again.

Indeed, there was a tunnel big enough for a man. It wasn't big enough for them to stand, but half-crouching position was enough.

"Shall we?" Merlin smirked.

"I think we should rest a moment", Arthur stated, stretching his aching back. Merlin nodded in agreement.

"You are absolutely right."

Arthur scoffed. "Please tell me you've got food."

Merlin dug around his bag and grinned. "I have some bread and a flagon of water. The king felt a wave of relief hit over him, and he leaned against the wall, letting out a small laugh.

"Merlin, my hero."  
The servant grimaced, and gave him a piece of bread. "I'm afraid we need to be careful with the food supplies. They won't last long."

Arthur nodded, and ate his piece of bread with slow bites. He took a big gulp from the leather flagon, before handing it over to Merlin.

The two just lay there for a while, staring at nothing in particular.

"We should..." Merlin started, but never finished his sentence. He didn't have to, though.

"Yes we should", Arthur sighed and got up on his aching feet.

 

* * *

 

For a while they just wandered about in the tunnels. It was so winding with it's many lefts and rights. Once they ran into a circling stone staircase with slippery, muddy steps. Arthur couldn't really see anything else but Merlin's hunched back and the walls around him. Occasionally they were dirt, sometimes rock. It didn't really matter, though. Whatever this place was, it hadn't been used for decades.

Arthur almost bumped into Merlin's backside, when the servant had stopped without him noticing.

"A door", he stated with a tired tone. Arthur breathed out in discourage.

"Oh well, let's just get on with it", he said.

Merlin glanced over his shoulder. "It looks like a thick one", he grimaced. "and since this tunnel is really not too spacy, I think we'll just have to take turns."

Arthur nodded in agreement. "And the other one should keep a close watch on the ceiling, in case it should collapse."

"Agreed."

Merlin took the first digging round, and he both clawed and dug the first layer of mud and clay that was covering the wooden door.

"Your turn", he coughed and he pulled back and started digging the dirt off of his hands. It had made a pretty, dark layer on his hands and clothes.

Arthur sighed and helped his way with the sword. Merlin had managed to dig out a good start. The wood was already showing. His muscles ached and the dirt and wood were creating a horrible, thick layer. However, he reached the wood. It was rotten and wet, but it was still wood.

The dust made him cough and sneeze, it invaded his eyes and nose and the dirt turned his hands black. There was still a lot of way to go. The dirt wall was much thicker than they had first though, and Arthur's uppter body was completely inside the whole.

"You're it", he finally said, after he had used almost every drop of strength in his body. He grabbed the water flagon and took a long gulp of the cold water.

Merlin seemed to be making progress. He had made his way through the wood, and had his body completely inside the still deepening hole. Arthur frowned. What if there was no other side? What if it was just clay and dirt?

"I'm through soon!" Merlin shouted, even though his voice was almost completely muffled by the dirt walls.

"Thank God", Arthur answered and looked at the hole. He couldn't even see Merlin's feet. Arthur knelt beside the hole, peeking into it. He saw Merlin lying in the small tunnel they had made, working his way through the last layer.

"I think – yes – I think that I'm – ooh – yes – woah!"

There was a sound of rustling, stones falling – and a cry. Arthur pushed himself to the hole, but the Merlin's shouting had already stopped.

"Merlin!" the king screamed, panic hitting over him. He pushed the candle ahead him, showing the way.

Well, Merlin had gotten through. Not just that, he had _fallen_ through. He saw a shattered staircase and a very steep and sleek, rocky hillside.

"Merlin!" he yelled again.

Far below he could hear groaning. A wave of relief hit over him, but it didn't last long. Merlin was probably hurt.

Arthur tried to see more into the dark. He would have to be calm, now. He couldn't just run after Merlin or he'd end up falling on top of him.

"Merlin, can you hear me?" he shouted into the darkness.

After a moment a weak voice could be heard. It felt like it was coming from the bottom of a well, and Arthur had to hold his breath while trying to listen.

"Rocky… terrible steep… rock… don't fall..."

"I'm coming, Merlin!" Arthur shouted back at him. He quickly grabbed Merlin's bag before returning to the hole.

The king pushed himself through, gritting his teeth as the pain shot through his leg. The candle light showed him as much as he needed to see. He slowly and carefully placed his legs on the shattered and slippery stone steps. There were only four of them, and chills ran down his spine as he saw what was next. It was nothing but a steep, smooth rock from that on. Then there were a few steps again – though they looked like they couldn't be trusted – and after that the rockhill disappeared into the darkness.

Arthur blinked a few times. He wasn't sure what would come of this with a wounded leg and tired muscles, but Merlin was somewhere down there, alone, and he needed help.

The fall was really bad, and Arthur wasn't sure if he should try to slide or run the way down. But, concidering his leg, the first option was probably wiser.

"Watch out there, Merlin!" he shouted, before taking a deep breath and pushing himself onwards.

Arthur's breath got stuck in his throat as the black air hit his face. The rock was so bloody sleek there was nothing, absolutely nothing to hold on to. Some pebbles and stones that had been lying on the rockhill were falling with him. The king tried frantically to slow down his fall, but he ended up practically rolling down the hill. The candle died out and he was left with pitch black darkness as he hit the ground.

 

* * *

 

"Arthur, where are you?" Merlin asked quietly. He had heard a really loud thump and some groaning. The warlock himself had a broken wrist and some nice bruising on his side, but otherwise he thought he was fine.

"Here."

Merlin saw absolutely _nothing._ Then he heard shuffling, and saw how Arthur lit up a new candle. The king quickly found his servant's form.

"Hey", Merlin smirked weakly. Arthur crawled towards him, big blue eyes full of worry.

"Are you alright?"

"I've got a broken wrist, but nothing else."

Arthur nodded, pulling Merlin's bag closer. "You should bandage it up."

"Will do, sire", he answered and reached out to grab some bandages form the bag. His wrist was painfully twisted and already showing signs of swelling. When he was done he laid back his head on the cold stone floor.

"How the hell did we get here", Arthur suddenly chuckled. Merlin couldn't help but to join his laughter. For a moment the two just relieved their stress by laughing. Then they were silent for a while.

"Are you ready to move?" Arthur asked.

"Yeah."

The king pulled him up and together they started looking around. They were now in a lot more open area, a big cave. There were some big rocks in the middle. The air was still and cold – it hadn't been breathed for a long while. Merlin couldn't think of anything what this place could be. He didn't feel any kind of magic at all, and obviously there hadn't been anything alive in there for a very long time.

As the made their way further down, the cave again turned into a tunnel. Merlin was beginning to feel like there would be another door, but instead they came to a much smaller, cave-like room.

Except it didn't seem to have a ceiling at all. Merlin squinted, trying to see further up. "There is some kind of a hole up there", he whispered. Arthur tried to see where he was looking, and after a while he murmured:

"You're right. There is something up there. But you should look at your feet, too."

Merlin glanced down, and saw a chilling view. The ground was full of _bones._ There was a human skeleton right at their feet. They knelt beside it, examining it. Merlin saw a ragged piece of cloth under the skeleton, but there were jewels still attached to the rotting fabric. There was a golden ring still attached to it's finger. Merlin saw how the spine had cracked from the middle. The skull had been shattered like an egg.

"I guess he fell from up there", Arthur stated finally.

"I think it could be our way out", Merlin stated and the two glanced at each other.

"Well how do we get up there?"

Merlin shrugged. "We'll figure out something."

 

* * *

 

They didn't need to look for long. There was a very small tunnel, leading upwards. There were barely recognizable stairs made from dirt. It was more like a very cramped staircase.

"Well, someone got out of here", Merlin stated quietly. "They must have survived the fall." Arthur frowned as he peeked at the hole.

"I can't fit in there."

The servant tilted his head. "That's why I'm going."

Arthur raised his eyebrows. "And leave me down here?"

"Of course not. I'll find my way up there and pull you out, of course."

The king was still suspicious. "And how are you going to do that?"

"I'll either find some rope or I'll find someone who can get us rope."

Arthur just stared at him. "You sure?"

Merlin smirked back at him as he stuffed a candle in his pockets. "When do I ever let you down?"

The king made grimaced. "Well-"  
"Don't answer that." Merlin had already started pulling himself up the tunnel. The dirt was slippery and wet, and it was barely holding Merlin's weight. The so-called stepts were crumbling under his feet, but Merlin kept going, upwards. He could barely squeeze his bony body through, and couldn't help the claustrophobic feelings that came up again. As if that wasn't enough, the tunnel-hole was pitch black, and he had absolutely no means of lighting his way.

His wrist was aching like hell. He murmured a spell that would keep the pain away at least for a little while – and kept going.

Merlin wasn't sure how long he had dragged his body towards the end of the tunnel. Sometimes he had slipped and fallen downwards several meters, but suddenly he gasped as he saw that there was no more tunnel. There was something cold and hard and made of stone, that was blocking his way. Merlin couldn't see anything, but he suspected it was some kind of a slab.

He held on to the mud walls as hard as he could, and then tried to push the stone slab away.

He had expected grunting and lots of hard work, perhaps even magic – but the slab rolled off of it's place quite easily, whining and shuffling a little.

Merlin pushed the stone slab away and pulled himself out of that hellish hole. He blinked his eyes in the pitch black and then dug out the candle from his pockets.

" _Bryne_ " he whispered, and a bright flame immediately started burning. He stood up and looked around.

It was a cold, wet and slimy corridor. Nameless creatures were creeping in the shadows, unseen and unfelt, never touched by the sun. Merlin could feel so much in here – magic, too.

 _What the hell is this place?_ He thought to himself. _I'll have to ask Kilgh-_

He stopped his thoughts. Kilgharrah was gone.

And this wasn't the time to dwell on the past. His king was somewhere down there, waiting for help. And Merlin would find some.

He quickly scanned the place. The corridor went on to both directions, cold, hard stone walls dripping with damp slime. Merlin gulped and started walking.

 

* * *

 

Arthur was pretty sure it had been an hour, if not two, before he saw a distant blaze of a candle light up in the ceiling. He saw Merlin's pale face show up from the hole.

"Arthur!" he yelled. The place echoed with his voice.

"I can see you!" the king shouted back, limping right under the hole in the ceiling.

Merlin's expression was serious and tight, and Arthur couldn't help but wonder what was up there.

"Have you got the rope?" he shouted.

"I do", was the answer.

Soon Merlin's face disappeared from sight, and when it reappeared, he was holding a rope.

 _Where the hell did he find rope, though?_ Was Arthur's only thought. That man enever seized to amaze him. Very resourceful, indeed.

Merlin threw the rope down at him, and Arthur grabbed it. It was perfecly clean, very strong and seemed extremily new.

"Where the hell did you get it?" he yelled back up.

"Found it here!" Merlin answered. "I think it sometimes belonged to a sorcerer, but don't think about that too much!"

Arthur raised his brows. Well this was just great. An enchanted rope? Maybe it would try to hang him as soon as he tried to get up.

"Arthur, hold on _really tight!"_

The king frowned and looked up. "Merlin, remember what happened last time?"  
"Yeah, but this is an enchanted rope so don't you worry."

 

* * *

 

It was a cell, Merlin had realized it immediately as he had stepped inside it. The door was heavy and rotting. Merlin shivered at the cold, and some shivers ran down his spine, as he saw the gaping hole in the middle of the cell's floor. It was like a big black mouth to oblivion itself, just waiting to get something to eat. This place had been asleep for so long, now. The screams of the people who once stayed here were still latching onto the walls like the slime on the corridors.

The horrors that this place had seen, they were still hanging in the air. Merlin felt another set of shivers, but then made himself look around. There was a small chest in the corner. Merlin frowned and walked towards it. It was locked, but a warlock like him had no problems opening it.

His eyes flashed gold, and the chest revealed it's contents. Merlin wasn't quite sure how a person was allowed to be that lucky. There was a beautiful, perfectly clean rope just lying there, in that filthy chest. He touched it, and felt energy run through him. An enchanted rope.

Merlin didn't even want to think what it had been used for, as he pulled the thing out. It was long – very long indeed. He slowly, carefully peeked out of the hole in the floor.

Down there, at least two hundred feet below him, was a weak candle blaze.

Merlin passed the rope through a little stone ring that sticked out of the wall. It had probably held chains back in the day. The warlock tried to ignore the pure evil and horror that was still radiating from the place. He then took glanced out of the hole again, shouting Arthur to hold on.

And so he pulled. Merlin felt the energy flow through him as he held the rope. Arthur's weight didn't seem even half as much as he remembered – knew – it to be. It was the rope, of course, that was doing most of the job. Merlin liked it.

 

* * *

 

It took a few long, painful minutes to get the king of Camelot up from the hole. Merlin panted and stared at him, as he slowly looked back down.

"That's a hell of a fall", he stated and glanced at Merlin. "What is this place?"

"A cell", Merlin murmured. "And I really don't want to know what happened here. I say we leave, now."

Arthur nodded. "Well done, anyway. I'm afraid the rope has to stay here, though."

Merlin didn't say anything as he stood up, slowly backing away from the cell. Arthur lit up his candle again and then the two were off again.

Aimless wandering in the slimy, dark corridors. Not even the soft candle light made them feel any easier. Merlin didn't like the atmosphere. He hated the place.

It was almost like the cold, damp air was trying to suffocate him. He coughed.

Arthur suddenly stopped in his tracks. "Merlin, look."

The warlock raised his gaze and frowned. There was a chamber ahead, but straight in the opposite of them there was a little tunnel – and at the end of it, there was water.

Obviously worth looking into. Merlin and Arthur walked closer.

"I think this is our way out of here", the king finally said. "I'm pretty sure it connects with a lake."

"Oh, great. We'll get to go to a little bath after all", Merlin murmured. Arthur glanced at him.

"Don't be a girl, Merlin. Come on."

And so the king slowly stepped into the black water. Merlin saw him flinch, but he kept going. The warlock then stepped after him, and gasped as the freezing water his his legs. Merlin was almost certain that this lake should have be frozen, but for some reason it wasn't. It was spring, for God's sakes.

Eventually they had to dive. Merlin's lungs were very weak so he really didn't have too much time under the water – but luckily, he didn't need much. There was a small edge of a rock covering the entrance from sight.

"So that's why no one knows about it", Arthur stated as his teeth clattered. The young men weren't far form the shore, and didn't need to swim for long.

Merlin collapsed on the beach and took in a very deep breath of the cool, fresh night air. Arthur seemed relieved as well.

"Where are we?" Merlin mumbled.

"Good news", Arthur answered. "I know where we are."

He glanced at the black-haired servant. "It's about a two-hour walk from Camelot."

Merlin grimaced. "We should..."

"Yes, Merlin. We should. Let's get going."

Arthur very much did not enjoy explaining the story to Guinevere, who had been worried sick. Merlin had to calm down Gaius, who had not been at ease either ("A few hours! You both said that you'd be gone for a few hours! It's bloody midnight!")

But, eventually, Merlin and Arthur had both made it to a nice hot bath and had some food to their stomachs. Arthur had even found the kindness in his heart to give Merlin the next day off.


	5. Please don't forget me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long... but here it is xd  
> I know it's short, but no worries - there's more coming. This is a twoshot, possibly a threeshot. As always, I hope you enjoy - and reviews are highly appreciated.

" _It will be like I never existed."_

_\- Twilight_

Arthur wake up that morning with an immense headache. He remembered having the strangest dream last night. There had been a figure, who kept running away from him and just when he was about to reach it, the figure faded away.

He rubbed his eyes and blinked a couple of times, before getting up from bed. That's when he heard a knock on the door.

"Come in!" he replied, putting on a red robe. A man, dressed in blue and red, came in. For some reason, Arthur felt a bit weirded out by this, before he finally snapped out of it. "Hello, George", he said.

"If I may serve you your breakfast, your highness?"

"Sure, just leave it there", he muttered, waving his hand at the table. He wasn't feeling hungry at all, to be honest, but he knew he had to eat something.

"I won't require anything else right now, thank you, George", Arthur turned his back on the servant and poured himself a glass of water, walking towards the window.

"As you wish, your majesty."

He heard the door close after the servant. Slowly the king seated on his chair. Where was this bloody headache coming from? He'd need to stop by at Gaius'.

And for some reason he felt a bit depressed. He couldn't fathom out why, though. The monster him and the knights had been hunting for the past few weeks hadn't shown it's face around in a long time. They had already started suspecting it might have left Camelot. The monster was of magical origin, and had caused destruction and fear in the outer villages. So far it hadn't attacked anyone, but it was clearly a threat.

He rubbed his face. _My head_ , Arthur thought in pain.

* * *

That morning king Arthur dragged himself to the court physician's chambers.

"Gaius!" he yelled while holding his head. The ache was sharp, and it was getting worse. The old man then opened the door and rubbed his eyes.

"Arthur!" he said greeted. He then let the king in and retreated deeper into the chamber. He seemed to get back to whatever he had been doing before Arthur came, but then suddenly turned around.

"What do you need, sire?"

Arthur seated by the table. "I've been having a terrible headache all morning. I don't know where it's coming from."

"Let's see", Gaius frowned.

He examined the king's head thoroughly. "You sure you haven't hit your head to anything?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

Gaius sighed. "Suppose it makes sense. There seems to be no bumps or scratches or anything like that."

The physician then walked up to his cabinet, that was full of tiny bottles and potions. Meanwhile Arthur scanned the chambers with his eyes. His gaze seemed to wander off to the sealed door at the back of the chambers. It had been sealed for ages, that much he knew. The handle was dusty and unused.

"Hey, Gaius", Arthur said. "What's behind that sealed door?"

The old man turned around with a frown. "The what?"

Then he glanced at the door, too. "Oh, that door." His frown deepened even more. For a while Gaius seemed to just stare at the door, fallen to his own thoughts. "I can't say I'm entirely sure, sire. Probably just an old storage that was sealed because of mold or something like that."

Arthur nodded slowly. For some reason, that sealed door seemed to make him very sad. He decided he wouldn't give it any more thought, though - he had enough in his mind already.

"Have you already given up on hunting the beast?" Gaius asked as he turned around to hand over a small bottle of a blue liquid.

Arthur gave the bottle a suspicious look, before taking it slowly.

"Suppose so. No one's seen it for a while, and it hasn't exactly attacked anyone yet", he stated.

"Or", muttered Gaius, "there just isn't anyone to report the attack."

Arthur didn't answer, just poured the insights of the bottle into his mouth and swallowed. It tasted like mold, but he was prepared to do nearly anything to get rid of this damned headache.

* * *

Later he decided that Gaius was right. They couldn't give up now. Arthur's headache had dulled a little, and he was sure he could ride.

"Let's go", he called his knights, who were already saddling their horses.

"Told you he wouldn't give it up yet", smirked Gwaine. Leon rolled his eyes and jumped on his horse.

The knights seemed happy and Arthur wasn't on a talkative mood. He never was, really. The only one he could truly relax with was Guinevere. He didn't know what he'd do without her, honestly. The knights were good company, sure, but Arthur had to keep up his kingliness around them. He was their leader. Sometimes that just felt so exhausting for him - knowing that he could never fully be himself around them. Arthur had never been a humorous person, anyway. He doubted he'd make a good friend for them.

So he was their king.

"We'll split up", ordered Arthur when they were deeper in the forest. "Ride in pairs. Gwaine and Elyan, Lancelot and Leon, Percival and me."

His knights nodded and turned around, riding to different directions.

Arthur sighed. They weren't even sure what they were looking for, bloody hell. Yesterday evening he'd been in here with the knights. It was quite fuzzy, really, but something had seriously startled the horses and they had drifted apart from each other. That had happened exactly in this part of the forest.

Arthur gasped for air as a sudden wave of pain flashed through his head, and he groaned.

"Sire?" Percival stopped his horse and frowned.

"My head…" Arthur coughed out. He raised his gaze slowly. They had been here yesterday, he remembered.

"We should look somewhere else", the king murmured. "We already were here. This is the wrong place."

The dusk came, and Arthur gave up. It was no use in the dark. There was no sight of any kind of monster, but there had been reports all over - sightings of a strange, tall creature. Creature of magic.

The king was tired, and his head was still hurting. There was also a dull, empty feeling inside his chest. A feeling he couldn't explain. Like something was missing.

The knights were tired too, didn't know what to do about the situation. Even Gwaine had quieted down. They all headed straight for the castle, but Arthur stayed behind. He sat down to the stairs in front of the citadel, and leaned his head onto his elbows.

"What's happening to me?" Arthur murmured to himself. He couldn't focus, he couldn't think - he just felt bad in general. And then there was the goddamned headache.

* * *

"Arthur", Gwen's voice reached his ears. Arthur was now lying in his bed, staring at the wall.

"I know when something's up with you", the queen said. As she looked at Arthur with her wise, deep brown eyes, he felt a bit safer. "What's wrong?"

The king sighed, letting his head sink onto Gwen's lap.

"And what I heard from George, you haven't eaten all day. That's not like you", she continued, clearly worried.

"I'm not okay", Arthur murmured. "I don't know what's happening. My head hasn't been hurting this much ever before."

Gwen stroked his hair. "I thought Gaius gave you a potion for that."

"It didn't work."

"In that case you should go again tomorrow", the queen said. "He had other options for you, I'm sure. Gaius always knows what to do."

Arthur's eyes were open just a smidge. "I hope so."

* * *

Arthur couldn't sleep all night. Not a single hour of sleep. He had stared at the wall, listening to Gwen's slow and calm breathing. She had decided to sleep next to him that night, and he was thankful. But not even Gwen's presence could make his headache go away. Arthur watched as the sky outside got paler and paler, and the sun finally rose.

He didn't wait for George to barge into his room and wake him up. Arthur wanted to get to Gaius' as soon as he could. The sleep deprivation took it's toll already, and made his head hurt even more.

Arthur stumbled to the physician's chambers.

"Gaius", he woke the old man up, just like yesterday. He yawned and squinted.

"Sire", Gaius mumbled. "What are you doing here?"

"I need something else for my headache. And also a sleep draught - I didn't sleep all night."

The old man frowned and Arthur backed off, seating to the nearby chair. Arthur ran his fingers through his hair and closed his eyes. He was _so tired_.

"Here, sire. Drink this."

Gaius gave him another small bottle this time filled with very bright liquid. Arthur didn't have the energy to examine it any longer. He poured the thing to his throat and barely noticed the taste.

"Now this", Gaius gave him another potion. Arthur blinked tiredly and obeyed. Almost immediately he felt his vision start to slur.

"There you go, sire. Just go to sleep now."

* * *

Arthur dreamed a dream.

It wasn't a nice one - it was restless, filled with dark images and purposeless shapes. That's when he noticed that figure again - the skinny figure he had seen the day before, too.

"Wait!" Arthur tried to yell, but the figure was out of his reach.

He chased it, trying to catch even a glimpse of the figure's face - but he just couldn't catch up. Arthur fell down, and didn't bother to get up anymore.

The figure had stopped, too. Arthur wasn't even sure if he was breathing - the silence was overwhelming. Then the figure turned his head just a bit - and Arthur could swear he saw a glimpse of sapphire-blue eyes. But the figure faded into thin air like smoke.

Arthur woke up. Gaius looked at him under his brows.

"How long was I out?" the king asked slowly. He felt a little better, although his head was still hurting.

"Almost nine hours, sire. Gwen was here to check on you, and she informed the knights you wouldn't be coming for the search patrol today", the old man said.

Arthur nodded. Nine hours? It had felt like just a few minutes. The king noticed he was lying on Gaius' bed, and he quickly sat up. However, he was faced with a wave of nausea.

"Easy now, sire", Gaius said. "You're probably running a cold or a stomach bug. It's alright for even kings to get sick sometimes."

Arthur didn't answer. A cold? A stomach bug? No way. There was just no way he'd feel like this if that were the case.

"You were restless in your sleep", Gaius stated as he stood up. "I think you said something about someone called 'Merlynn' or something."

Arthur frowned. "Merlynn?" he repeated. "Who the hell is Merlynn?"

Gaius sighed at him. "How would I know? I sure hope Gwen won't start suspecting anything shady if you start repeating a strange woman's name in your sleep."

Arthur grimaced at him, before he slowly got up. "Thank you, Gaius."

* * *

The day was almost over already. It was evening, and the sun was setting. Arthur stared out of the window. Even though Gaius had given him more of the sleep draught, he still couldn't fathom out what was wrong with him. Arthur wasn't sick, for gods' sakes. There was something way more off here. The hollow feeling inside his chest was still there, growing. And then there was that another feeling…

The feeling he had forgotten something important.

Or someone.

 


End file.
